Report: Ichiro Suzuki wants to stay in New York

It sounds like Ichiro Suzuki is happy to be part of a team that, y’know, wins.

Ichiro Suzuki. (Getty Images)

Now that the season is over for the New York Yankees, the speculation has begun about Ichiro’s future. After getting $17 million in the last year of his contract with the Mariners this past season, he will be a free agent as soon as the World Series ends.

Despite his age — he’s 39 (as of Monday) — and the fact he seems to be in the twilight of his MLB career, it appears that teams other than the Yankees may be interested in the Japanese superstar. But the New York Post on Thursday reported that Ichiro wants to stay in New York.

The (San Francisco) Giants were working hard to obtain Ichiro Suzuki before the Yankees did in late July and probably would have interest in the free agent this winter. But a person close to Ichiro told me he strongly wants to stay with the Yankees because he so enjoyed playing in a professional, winning atmosphere with so many contemporaries near his age range.

The friend said he can’t imagine money being a factor, noting that to make matters work when he wanted to be in Seattle, Ichiro deferred $5 million a year on his last long-term contract. The implication was that a one-year deal, perhaps with an option, in the $5 million-to-$8 million range might get it done.

That sounds about right. Ichiro has become more valuable to the Yankees than he was to the Mariners — he was hitting .261 in Seattle before getting traded in July to New York, where he ended up batting .322. The 10-time All-Star may yet have some pop left in his bat.